Persona EH: Evolving Hearts
by swampmist
Summary: In a town on the plains, what happens when kids are sucked into a game, and must face their own inner demons to survive? Persona-based fic of hopefully acceptable length, mostly OCs based off of me and my friends. Hope it's worth the read!


**Disclaimer: Persona is owned by Atlus**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: The New Kid<strong>

**| Saturday, 7:30 AM, in the skies over Kansas|**

My eyes slowly opened, the sound of the Plane's engines playing in my ears as the pilot's intercom shrieked into life

"We are currently nearing our destination, so please turn off all electronic devices at this time as we begin to make our descent." His voice rang out through the plane with the tell-tale muffling of someone who doesn't know how to use a microphone and puts it too close to their mouths.

I sighed, taking the earplugs of my I-pod out of my ears, my ears popping slightly from the rush of air. My I-pod had stopped playing sometime after I had fallen asleep, which I had done promptly after entering the plane. Stowing my I-pod in my jean pocket, I sniffled slightly as the smell of sweat and airline peanuts wafted over to me, destroying any chance I had of resting on the last leg of the trip. Resigned to my fate, I opened the plastic panel covering the window and stared down at the slowly approaching ground, the sound of the plane's engines increasing slightly. The ground looked like the single, solitary stretch of land that got it it's name; The Great Plains. Until recently it was mostly unpopulated, but with new advancements in farming technology it had become the breadbasket of the US, as well as a good percentage of The UK. My destination stood at the forefront of the agricultural surge happening all across the plains, and so is fairly appropriately named Argrington, despite how stupid the name sounds aloud.

I suppose I should actually introduce myself. My name is Chris Kawahisa, and my family recently sent me to the fairly prestigious school located within Argrington, Meshier Academy. Named after the Founder and current Head Principal of the School, Alberto Meshier, known best for his comically styled mustache. Seriously, the guy looks like a 70s cartoon villain. Anyway, I got sent out because my parents are going to see their family in Japan for the year and help them run some kind of restaurant there, so I'm being sent here because it seemed to cost the least for the best combination of good education and housing. Funny that something that new would cost so little to board in, but that's about it. I'm pretty much ok with it, I didn't have many friends back at home anyway. I try my best to be fairly normal so that nobody is driven away from me, but the whole 'Emo Haircut' kind of takes away from that. Of course, without this massive bang in-front of my right eye, everyone would see that I am actually blind in that eye, which would be worse. Better to be seen as weird than pitied for something I can't control.

Back to the story, I continued to stare out the window at the utterly flat landscape, the feeling that I should be able to see more than a flat expanse of color washing over me just like it does every time I notice how limited my perception is. I could feel my right eye tingle, just as it does everytime I try to look through it, another constant reminder of my lack of normal sight. Of course, having limited sight isn't all bad. I can hear and smell better than most, but the obviousness if my condition does often put me in an awkward position. As I pondered my lack of 3d sight for the hundredth time in the last week, I saw the airport slowly close in, and made sure that I was ready to step off the plane. With no relatives in the area, I'd have to get to my assigned dorm with everything in one piece, or I'm stuck buying new clothing. Thankfully, I got everything together just fine, and soon stepped off the plane, simply trying to blend into the crowd of people leaving the plane along with me.

As I moved along, the throng of people constantly pushing me this-way and that, I smelled something that I haven't smelled in a very long time. A few months back, a locally-owned Mexican place in my home town shut down, and I haven't had anything really spicy since. Sure, there's those spicy nuggets from pizza places, but those are never the same. Even though this was in the middle of an airport, I could feel the spice in the top of my nose from here. Deciding that I really should try some of their food, I quickened my pace through the crowd, heading for the luggage return. In my haste, however, I knocked into a rather large man in a business suit with a knapsack across his left shoulder. Of course, 50 or so people barreled past us afterwards, leaving both he and I dazed on the floor. Recovering quickly, I jumped up and went to give the man a hand

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, I wasn't looking where I was going" I said frantically as I held out my hand to him. Taking my hand, he smiled knowingly

"No Problem my boy, just promise me that you'll learn from your mistakes, ok?"

"O-of course! That just goes without saying in my mind" I said, slightly confused at the broadness of his wording

"Heh, good. That attitude will help you in the coming weeks" He said, and I felt a strange warmness within me when he did. Like, some kind of weight had just been lifted off my shoulders. Either way, I came out of my randomly induced stupor to see the man pick up his backpack, a small bit of what looked like a blue wing poking out of his bag. It looked almost like a mask, and I could hear the tell-tale jingling of jewels of some kind coming out of his bag. Guy must have been pretty rich. In any case, I quickly picked up my carry-on bag and continued on my way to get the rest of my items, the clamor of the crowd quickly leaving me behind. of course, after having smelled what could only be described as pure spice flaring in my nostrils, I quickened my pace to my luggage. I really wanted to get some good mexican food, and the place seemed to even have an outside seating area, which was quite cool.

**| 8:00 AM, Outside Argrington Airport|**

I sat a table, a bowl of fresh chili sizzling in my hands. Grabbing the plastic spoon that I was provided, I slowly spooned a morsel of the deliciously spicy nectar towards my mouth, breathing in the decadent aroma given off by the perfect mixture of Habanero peppers and spiced beef that wafted off the small bit of paradise I held. Blowing softly on it to ward off the heat of the freshly mixed sauce I slowly brought it into my mouth. Closing my mouth around the spoon, it instantly flooded with the tangy spice of so many delicious peppers and spices. The heat, both from the fact that it had been freshly heated and the fact that it was quite spicy, coated my tongue and sent shivers of delight down my spine. Spoon still in my mouth, I looked up with a start as I heard a loud crash from across the street. Sitting next to a pole was a boy, a bike laying sideways next to him. The boy had short dirty blond hair, and he rubbed his head with a smile that seemed to say "Screw you world, I'm having fun." He wore dark blue shorts and a green T-shirt with some kind of graphic on it. Riding up to him where two more blond haired people on bikes, both seeming worried about the boy who had just crashed his bike into a pole quite loudly. One of the two was a girl, and she had long slightly reddish hair and seemed to be fussing over him, possibly a sister. I heard small bits of her yelling at the boy, specifically catching words like 'Brother,' 'Dumbass,' and 'Careful,' which simply confirmed my theory of her being the sibling of the boy currently seated. She wore the normal short jean-shorts that are in style these days and a light pink cardigan. The other rider, a male with very short platinum blond hair, simply got off his bike and slapped the boy in the head before pulling him to his feet. I could hear the slap from where I was sitting, and the boy could not have felt very good afterwards. The platinum blond boy stood visibly shorter than the other two, but was certainly the stronger looking out of the group. He wore a sweater with the sleaves pulled part-way up his arms and long camo pants with a ton of pockets. The boy who had recently fallen rubbed the back of his head, and turned toward me. When he noticed me staring, the spoon still planted firmly in my mouth, he waved widely at me. Quickly swallowing the now tasteless bit of chili, I waved back and motioned them toward me. Quickly retrieving his bike from the ground, the taller boy spoke to his companions as he crossed the street over to where I sat, and let his bike rest against the fence surrounding the tables that I was eating at.

"Hey there, my name's Zain, mind telling me yours?" He said, surprisingly polite for how nonchalant he acted earlier.

"My name's Chris, nice to meet you." I said, deadpanning to mask my surprise at how quickly he had recovered from his fall. As I said my name and contemplated how anyone could recover from falling off a bike that fast, Zain's companion's walked their bikes up to where I was sitting"

"Guys, this is Chris. Chris, meet my Sister Blossom and my good friend Gordon, or as we like to call him Donny" he said with a wave of his hand, the previous facade quickly fading

"Hiya!" Blossom said with a welcoming smile, while Gordon simply grunted quietly. Deciding quickly that having someone who actually knew the area as an acquaintance was a good idea, I decided to explain my situation to them.

"Hey, I'm moving here for the year, and I need to find my dorm. I'm going to Meshier Academy and I need to find my way to dorm 12Z. Can you guys help me out a bit?"

"No problem, although I suck at directions. Donny knows, but you have to get him to talk first" Zain said with a wink, and Donny quickly rolled his eyes before getting a napkin out of the holder on the table and pulling a pen out of his pocket. He scrawled some directions on the napkin and handed it back to me, before looking me in the eye and saying "I suppose we'll see you there on Monday then."

"Wait, you guys go there two?"

"Of course!" Stated the girl, shaking her head slightly "Sorry about Donny, he's a bit defensive around most people. But, yeah, pretty much everyone in town here goes. I'm a Sophomore personally, and my brother and Donny are Juniors."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised at the youngness of the girl "You look like you could be in college, and you guys seem too old to be my age in any case."

"Oh, dude, your a Junior too? Sweet!" Zain said, his grin increasing in size "Then we'll definitely see each other on Monday!" Hearing a sound like plastic vibrating against fabric, I saw Zain pull a phone out of his shorts pockets and stare at it for a sec.

"Aw shit, guys we gotta get going, food's getting ready. Hey, Chris, if I see you Monday, I'll give you my Phone Number and we can go explore the town for a bit. Either way, nice to meet you!" He said, grabbing his bike and getting ready to pedal away

"Likewise," I said waving to them as they departed. Looking at the napkin, I realized that I could barely understand the handwriting, and groaned quite loudly before settling back in to finish my now cold chili. Finding my dorm was going to suck.

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><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, and heres to plenty more! Constructive criticism is welcome, so yeah. This was honestly fun to write, and I look forward to writing plenty more!<strong>


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